Golf club head

ABSTRACT

A golf club head includes a shell including a main body, a sealing cap, and a mounting receptacle, and an insertion unit. The main body defines an inner chamber and a chamber opening communicating with the inner chamber. The sealing cap is made of an electromagnetic-wave-penetrable material and covers the chamber opening. The mounting receptacle protrudes into the inner chamber from an inner surface of the main body and defines an installation space, and faces the sealing cap in such a manner that a normal projection of the mounting receptacle falls on an inner surface of the sealing cap. The insertion unit is detachably received in the installation space and includes an intelligent unit for measuring and transmitting data.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority of Taiwanese Patent Application No. 106125442, filed on Jul. 28, 2017.

FIELD

The disclosure relates to a golf club head, and more particularly to a golf club head with a shell having improved electromagnetic-wave penetration function.

BACKGROUND

Golf has become increasingly popular as the standard of living has greatly improved over the years. More and more people play golf as hobby or even as competitive sport. In order to improve player performance, rigorous analysis of swing and hit data obtained from practice sessions is utilized to adjust the player's postures and strength, as well as the weight of the golf club.

Referring to FIG. 1, an intelligent golf club head 1 of a conventional golf club includes a main body 10 formed with an installation hole 100, and an intelligent counterweight unit 11 received in the installation hole 100. The intelligent counterweight unit 11 includes a coupling unit 111 positioned in the installation hole 100, an intelligent unit 112 disposed inside the coupling unit 111, and a cover 113 connecting to the intelligent unit 112 and closing the installation hole 100. The intelligent counterweight unit 11 can serve as a counterweight by its own weight, and the intelligent unit 112 can monitor and output numerous data generated during the swing and hit actions of the head unit 1, thus enabling the players to adjust their swing and hit actions based on the data output after being analyzed.

The numerous data measured during the swing and hit actions are wirelessly transmitted from the intelligent unit 112 to an external device (not shown) . In consideration of using lightweight materials in reducing swinging burden while accounting for the requirements of strength and firmness to withstand impact from a full swing, the main body 10 is currently made of carbon fiber . However, the carbon fiber has a shielding effect on the wireless transmission of electromagnetic waves, which can easily hinder the data output, resulting in the external device unable to receive the numerous measured data from the intelligent unit 112. In a situation where the carbon fiber is currently irreplaceable, ensuring effective output of the measured data remains to be a problem.

SUMMARY

Therefore, an object of the disclosure is to provide a golf club head that can alleviate at least one of the drawbacks associated with the prior art.

According to the disclosure, a golf head club includes a shell that includes a main body, a sealing cap, and a mounting receptacle, and an insertion unit. The main body defines an inner chamber and a chamber opening that communicates with the inner chamber. The sealing cap is made of an electromagnetic-wave-penetrable material and covers the chamber opening. A mounting receptacle protrudes into the inner chamber from an inner surface of the main body, and defines the installation space, and faces the sealing cap in such a manner that a normal projection of the mounting receptacle falls on an inner surface of the sealing cap. The insertion unit is detachably received in the installation space and includes an intelligent unit for measuring and transmitting a user's performance data in a form of electromagnetic wave.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view of a conventional golf club head;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of a golf club head according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view showing accommodation of an insertion unit in a shell of the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a structure of the insertion unit of the embodiment; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the insertion unit of FIG. 4 in an assembled state.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, an embodiment of a golf club head of the present disclosure includes a shell 2 and an insertion unit 3 that is mounted in the shell 2. The shell 2 of the golf club head is adapted to be connected to a shaft 9 of a golf club.

The shell 2 includes a main body 211, a sealing cap 212, and a mounting receptacle 213. The main body 211 defines an inner chamber 210 and a chamber opening 214 that communicates with the inner chamber 210. The sealing cap 212 is made of an electromagnetic-wave-penetrable material and covers the chamber opening 214. The mounting receptacle 213 protrudes into the inner chamber 210 from an inner surface 2111 of the main body 211,defines an installation space 22, and faces the sealing cap 212 in such a manner that a normal projection of the mounting receptacle 213 falls on an inner surface 2121 of the sealing cap. In this embodiment, the sealing cap 212 is made of glass fiber, and the main body 211 of the shell 2 is made of carbon fiber, and the sealing cap 212 and the main body 211 adhered directly to each other by the use of a glue.

The insertion unit 3 is detachably received in the installation space 22 of the shell 2, and includes an intelligent unit 32 for measuring and transmitting a user's performance data, such as force exerted onto a golf ball by a player hitting the golf ball with the golf club, speed and trajectory of the travelling golf ball, impact generated during the golf club hitting the golf ball, etc., in a form of electromagnetic wave.

The mounting receptacle 213 has a tubular wall 215 that protrudes from the inner surface 2111 of the main body 211 to surround the installation space 22 and is formed with an internal thread 219. The tubular wall 215 has a receptacle opening exposed from the main body 211. In one form, the normal projection of the mounting receptacle 213 resides entirely within the inner surface 2111 of the sealing cap 212.

Further referring to FIG. 4 in combination with FIG. 3, in addition to the intelligent unit 32, the insertion unit 3 further includes a housing body 31,a holding frame 33, and an encapsulant 39. The housing body 31 defines the receiving space 310 that has an open end 300. The intelligent unit 32 and the holding frame 33 are received in the receiving space 310. The intelligent unit 32 extends through the open end 300, and extending through and is fixed to the holding frame 33. The encapsulant 39 is filled in the receiving space 310 and disposed between the housing body 31 and the intelligent unit 32, and positions the intelligent unit 32 to the housing body 31.

Further referring to FIG. 5, the housing body 31 of the insertion unit 3 includes a base wall 311 covering the receptacle opening, and a surrounding wall 312 extending from a periphery of the base wall 311. An outer surface of the surrounding wall 312 is formed with an external thread 314 that threadedly engages the internal thread 219 of the mounting receptacle 213, so that the insertion unit 3 is detachably received in the installation space 22.

The base wall 311 of the housing body 31 is formed with a recess 313 and has a protrusion portion 319 that extends outwardly from the receiving space 310, and the recess 313 is formed in the protrusion portion 319. The recess 313 is adapted to engage a tool (not shown) such as a wrench or other similar rotating tools operable to rotate the housing body 31 relative to the shell 2.

Since the insertion unit 3 itself has a weight, a desired counterweight effect can be achieved by mounting the insertion unit 3 on the shell 2. The weight of the insertion unit 3 may be adjusted by changing the weight and material of the holding frame 33, changing the density of the encapsulant 39, or even placing additional counterweight components (not shown) in the receiving space 310. The modularized insertion unit 3 is available for the users to select the desired weight according to practical requirements, even to the extent of disposing different sensors or processing circuits in the intelligent unit 32, thereby enabling the intelligent unit 32 to have sensing and analyzing functions. The same module can be produced with various specifications according to the preference of the users.

Referring again to FIG. 3, when the golf club provided with the golf club head of this disclosure is used to perform swinging action, the intelligent unit 32 senses the swinging motion, and the measured data is transmitted outwardly in the form of electromagnetic wave to an external device (not shown). Since the transmission of the electromagnetic wave from the intelligent unit 32 occurs in an upward manner, the electromagnetic wave can be directed to a portion of the main body 211 that is not shielded by the carbon fiber, that is, toward the inner chamber 210 to pass through the sealing cap 212 that is made of electromagnetic-wave-penetrable glass fiber, enabling smooth outward transmission of the measured data.

In sum, by virtue of the sealing cap 212 made of electromagnetic-wave-penetrable glass fiber, the measured data obtained from the intelligent unit 32 of the insertion unit 3 can be transmitted smoothly in the form of electromagnetic wave via the sealing cap 212. Since the sealing cap 212 has a size sufficient to allow the electromagnetic waves to be transmitted outwardly, the effective output of the measured data is thus ensured.

In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiment. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments maybe practiced without some of these specific details. It should also be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic maybe included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of various inventive aspects.

While the disclosure has been described in connection with what is considered the exemplary embodiment, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A golf club head comprising: a shell including a main body that defines an inner chamber and a chamber opening communicating with said inner chamber, a sealing cap that is made of an electromagnetic-wave-penetrable material, and that covers said chamber opening, and a mounting receptacle that protrudes into said inner chamber from an inner surface of said main body, that defines an installation space and that faces said sealing cap in such a manner that a normal projection of said mounting receptacle falls on an inner surface of said sealing cap; and an insertion unit detachably received in said installation space, and including an intelligent unit for measuring and transmitting a user's performance data in a form of electromagnetic wave.
 2. The golf club head as claimed in claim 1, wherein said insertion unit further includes a housing body that defines a receiving space having an open end, said intelligent unit extending through said open end and being received in said receiving space, and an encapsulant that is disposed between said housing body and said intelligent unit, and that positions said intelligent unit to said housing body.
 3. The golf club head as claimed in claim 1, wherein said mounting receptacle has a tubular wall that protrudes from said inner surface of said main body to surround said installation space and that is formed with an internal thread, said tubular wall having a receptacle opening exposed from said main body, said housing body of said insertion unit including a base wall covering said receptacle opening, and a surrounding wall extending from a periphery of said base wall, an outer surface of said surrounding wall being formed with an external thread threadedly engaging said internal thread of said mounting receptacle so that said insertion unit is detachably received in said installation space.
 4. The golf club head as claimed in claim 3, wherein said base wall of said housing body is formed with a recess adapted to engage a tool operable to rotate said housing body relative to said shell.
 5. The golf club head as claimed in claim 4, wherein said base wall of said housing body has a protrusion portion that extends outwardly away from said receiving space, said recess being formed in said protrusion portion.
 6. The golf club head as claimed in claim 2, wherein said insertion unit further includes a holding frame that is received in said receiving space, said intelligent unit extending through and being fixed to said holding frame.
 7. The golf club head as claimed in claim 1, wherein the normal projection of said mounting receptacle entirely resides within said inner surface of said sealing cap.
 8. The golf club head as claimed in claim 1, wherein said sealing cap of said shell is made of glass fiber.
 9. The golf club head as claimed in claim 8, wherein said main body of said shell is made of carbon fiber. 